Five Takeaways from Carl Albert versus Mustang
Carl Albert defeated Mustang 57-50 to advance to the second round of the Mustang Holiday Classic. James Locke finished the game with 13 points and was a key part of the win for the Titans. Here are the five main…
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Continue ReadingCarl Albert defeated Mustang 57-50 to advance to the second round of the Mustang Holiday Classic. James Locke finished the game with 13 points and was a key part of the win for the Titans.
Here are the five main takeaways from this matchup:
Locke is what a lot of colleges are looking for in a wing
James Locke of Carl Albert may have been the best college prospect on the court last night besides Ethan Scott of Mustang.
At 6’3, Locke is on the wing towering over some of his defenders and he still is able to use his quickness and get to the rim.
Against Mustang, Locke didn’t go for huge numbers but he didn’t have too. His teammates were stepping up and playing with confidence. The junior guard saw this and used his abilities when the time was needed.
It was impressive to see him take on a few possessions as point guard where he commanded the offense well.
Locke finished the game with 13 points but his ability to put the ball on the floor and cause stress on the defense was invaluable.
Ethan Scott is in a great situation to continue to develop
Scott is most likely the best shooter in the state of Oklahoma at the moment. If left open he can put up 20+ points in a hurry.
However, in high school ball the court gets a lot smaller than in AAU due to more coaching and the increased use of big men.
Scott is already a great shooter but playing at Mustang has allowed him to be able to try new things to score other than wide open threes.
The opposing team is building their game plan around stopping him so open looks are few and far between.
Against Carl Albert, Scott was harassed on the perimeter when he coming off screens. Scott was able to use their defensive aggressiveness against them and blew right by them when they closed out.
The 2022 shooter found ways to get to rim or the paint to finish with crafty layups or floaters.
You can see the potential of Scott becoming a scorer and not just a shooter and its impressive to see so early in his high school career. Scott finished with 17 points.
Quentin Woodson was a tough cover Thursday night for Mustang
Woodson is a big kid who uses his frame well. A lot of big kids are not great at using their strength on the block without running guys or traveling. Woodson showed off his ability to hold his grown and finish with touch through some contact.
Carl Albert made it a point to get Woodson the ball on the block or even in the mid-paint era to allow him to get a bucket.
The 2021 post did a great job of sealing off his defender and giving his guards good angles to throw him the ball to lead to a score.
Woodson isn’t the tallest guy on the court however he used his long wing span to make up the difference. He also showed off a nice jumper from three.
He would do a good job of trailing the offensive play and step into his shot at the top of the key and knocked it down.
Woodson finished with 12 points and was the biggest mismatch for the Titans offense Thursday night.
The Titan’s defensive chemistry was impressive
At the high school level its hard to get your team to talk on defense or read each other’s movements when scrambling to recover.
When you watch a team on defense you can always tell the teams who make mental mistakes and leave a man wide open.
Carl Albert found a way to rotate out of traps or even out of a poor closeout seamlessly and it was fun to watch.
There were moments were they would apply full court pressure and Mustang would break the press and start attacking to only be stuffed by a Carl Albert defender rotating over.
His rotation triggered his teammates to have his back and covered his assignment and the rest fell in line.
There wasn’t a bunch of hollering or theatrics, it was more of a known understanding between the Titans of what to do when a teammate needs your help defensively.
For basketball nerds it was beautiful to watch.
Harrell is just the point guard that Carl Albert needs
Jaden Harrell is often times compared to his older brother Mason Harrell but their games are different. Mason was a dominant scorer where
Jaden is the cerebral “quarterback” type of point guard who feeds his teammates and lets them make the play.
Harrell did a great job against Mustang of making the simple play. With decreased focus on post players in basketball, you often see guards who aren’t good at throwing the ball in the post.
Harrell on the other hand knew where to get Woodson the ball in an area where he could do something with it.
One of the impressive plays he made was when he cut backdoor on offense towards the basket and caught the ball and with no hesitation he immediately hit his teammate streaking to the basket for the layup.
The 2021 point guard is calm, cool, and collected which is what you want in your floor general. Harrell also made some good instinctive plays on defense that you only make if you have seen or played a lot of basketball at a high level.